Game 5 - A New Legacy

LeBron James, thanks to a triple double, led the Miami Heat to the 2012 NBA championship, exorcising its demons from the previous season. Game 5 was a route. Miami was able to match Oklahoma City's intensity early and pulled away in the second quarter. The Thunder battled back in that quarter and in the third, but never cut the lead far enough to threaten.

Miami took a 5 point lead into the start of the second quarter, but the game wasn't really that close. Mike Miller, on his way to 23 points and 7-8 shooting from behind the three point line, was hot early. Miller looked like he would disintegrate with every step as he was nursing a bad back, but it didn't hurt his long distance stroke. Rookie Norris Cole also played well early.

The Heat were balanced. Bosh had his best game of the series with 24 points, Wade had 20, Battier added 11, and Chalmers 10. While Miami exhibited balanced scoring and great shooting, Oklahoma City relied on Durant, who had 32. Westbrook came down to earth and scored 19 on 4-20 shooting, though he was 11-13 from the line. Harden scored 19, breaking a dubious streak of poor performances of late.

Miami has been the team America loves to hate since LeBron James famously and shamelessly announced his decision to come to the team during the summer of 2010. America just got another big reason to despise the Heat. They're not merely arrogant, they're champions now, too. Miami won 121-106, taking the series 4-1, as I predicted at the start of the season.